An Act of Affection
by MissMonsterite
Summary: "Kissing is an act of affection. Affection makes people feel better. Though it doesn't actually do anything about the physical pain. I get the basic idea of it."


"Ow!"

"Sorry! Sorry! I am so sorry!"

Lisa flutters around the hunched over figure of Twelve and almost passes out when she sees the blood. But she doesn't.

They had been having a pretty enjoyable time in the kitchen when the incident happened. Or at least Lisa had been having an enjoyable time. She often worried about whether or not she was interesting to talk to or if her responses were fitting for the conversations she had. She didn't have a lot of experience in the matter. However, she found herself worrying about it especially when around Twelve, who was always interesting and funny. And who, for some reason, constantly started conversations with her. At the same time though, it was often pointless of her to worry as Twelve could continue a conversation with her even if she didn't say anything.

Even in this case, Twelve had approached her to help with dinner; bluntly stating that nothing she made herself could be edible. Twelve was, once again, making her laugh, something she had done rarely with the people in her life before him, when a dishcloth got a little too close to the stovetop and caught on fire. She had quickly grabbed it and rushed to the sink to put it out but had shoved Twelve on her way. He had been cutting the vegetables for their curry and ended up slicing his finger.

Lisa is instantly relieved when Twelve lifts his head to look at her, smile still in place. "You're so clumsy Lisa," Twelve mockingly scolds. She knows by now when he's teasing her. Which is most of the time.

Lisa gathers her wits and gently wraps her fingers around his wrist. "Here. Let me wash it for you." She tugs him towards the sink and runs water over the cut. He could easily wash the cut for himself but Lisa keeps her hand with his under the water as it washes away the blood and he doesn't point it out either.

Lisa notices that his hand is quite delicate looking. Thin long fingers and a fragile looking wrist. But it's also covered in calluses and is rough to the touch.

Without thinking it through, Lisa's thumb softly rubs the toughened skin at the top of his palm, right under his fingers. Lisa goes pink once she realizes what she had done and hopes that Twelve hadn't noticed. She refuses to lift her gaze from their hands so she doesn't see his expression but she sees his fingers twitch before they softly grasp her thumb.

The back of Lisa's neck heats up and she is suddenly _so_ aware of their proximity, her shoulder is practically touching his chest, but she still refuses to look up at him. Almost uncomfortably warm now, Lisa feels a need to break the weird tension that seems to have come over them. Or maybe it's just her? Twelve probably wouldn't get as affected as she does by these sort of things.

Lisa mumbles something and is surprised by how breathy and quiet _and close_ Twelve's voice is when he asks, "What did you say?"

Finally, Lisa turns towards his direction but avoids eye contact. "Bandaid. You need a bandaid."

This seems to break the spell. "Ah. You're right." Lisa is somewhat relieved to hear the cheerful tilt to his voice has returned though it sounds different, faker. She has more mixed feelings when he loosens his fingers from around her thumb and moves away from her. Lisa is struck with the sudden thought that she might have done wrong. That it was wrong to mention the bandaid, to break the spell. But she's not sure why and it makes her anxious.

Lisa turns off the tap as Twelve dries his hands and opens a drawer in the small kitchen. He pulls out a package of bandages and takes one out with one hand. "Oh, wait. Let me do that." She moves closer to him once again. "It's difficult doing it with one hand."

Twelve just smiles and points his index finger towards her. She takes the bandage and carefully wraps it around the cut. Before she can stop herself, she brings his hand towards herself and places a kiss where the cut would be.

There's a heavy silence between them afterwards and the tips of Lisa's ears redden. She peeks up at Twelve to gauge his reaction. He is looking from his finger to Lisa with a surprised and mildly confused expression.

"Uh, what was that for?" Immediately, Lisa's cheeks burn. What had she been thinking? Why would she think that kissing his cut was something that she could do? Twelve interrupts her internal scolding by continuing, "Why would you kiss an injury? Is that normal?"

Lisa quickly puts the pieces together and realizes that Twelve has probably never had someone kiss his injuries before. He might think that she's just some sort of freak! Lisa quickly tries to spit out an explanation as her face gets redder. "I-it's just s-something you do when someone's hurt themselves! You k-kiss the injury to make it better." Though Lisa knew of course that it wasn't something that everyone did to every injury but she kept that to herself.

Lisa can't make her eyes meet his and stares off to the side. "Really?" She nods. "But there's no way that a kiss could actually lessen the pain."

Lisa swallows. "Well, yeah. But it's just what you do." Her voice was barely above a whisper by this point.

She barely registers Twelve's good hand coming closer to her face from her periphery. Not until she hears the 'thwack' as he flicks her and feels the sudden pain from her forehead. "Ow!" She brings her hands up in an instinctive reaction to protect herself from attack. "W-what was that for?"

"For being so clumsy." She can hear the laughter in his voice. Before she can sputter out a response, his callused fingers wrap around her wrists and tug them away from her face. Her mouth is still open to speak as his face moves closer to hers. She can do nothing but squeeze her eyes tight as he descends. She feels the soft texture of his lips on her forehead, exactly where he flicked earlier.

He doesn't stay there for too long but the skin tingles as his lips leave. His hands drop hers and he smiles at her. One of her hands automatically goes back up to cover her forehead. "How was that? Do you feel better now?"

Lisa knows that he was just teasing her but she couldn't help but get affected by him. Face pink, she mumbles, "I already knew that it doesn't actually make injuries better. It's just something you do."

He's still smiling. "I know. I'm not a complete idiot about these things. Kissing is an act of affection. Affection makes people feel better. Though it doesn't actually do anything about the physical pain. I get the basic idea of it."

Lisa doesn't know what to say so she says nothing and softly rubs her forehead.

His smile lessens somewhat. "It didn't hurt that much, did it?"

Lisa drops her hand and shakes her head. "Not really."

At this, Twelve's smile changes once more. Lisa recognizes it as his mischievous one. "Oh? Well what about this?" He pinches her cheek.

"Ouch!" Lisa says before she can stop herself. It hadn't even hurt that much but it had been her natural reaction to the act.

"My mistake," Twelve says, not sounding sorry at all. He grasps her chin between his fingers and softly kisses her cheek. Just like before, the skin tingles but Lisa's stomach also flip flops and her heart starts beating a little faster.

It doesn't help that Twelve keeps his fingers under chin and rubs his thumb softly over her cheek. Lisa's cheek is much softer than the tough skin on Twelve's thumb but Lisa doesn't mind. Twelve's smile is gone now and his expression more thoughtful. It makes Lisa nervous, but she knows it to be a good nervous, whatever that means, so she endures it. She recognizes the atmosphere as being similar as from before, in front of the sink, and Lisa doesn't want to screw this up as she feels she had done before.

There's a soft look to Twelve's eyes as his thumb slowly explores the expanse of Lisa's cheek. Lisa tries to control her breathing and doesn't avert her gaze. This heavy, slow, comfortable feeling that has overcome them both, changes in an instant when Twelve, by complete accident, brushes against Lisa's lip and, without thinking, she whispers, "Ow."

For a moment, it is like time freezes for both of them. The thumb stops moving and Twelve's eyes widen slightly, mirroring Lisa's. Lisa had instantly become embarrassed once she had said it. She doesn't know what has come over herself lately, why was she constantly saying things without thinking? But she doesn't take back what she has said and waits.

Twelve swallows. But then he steps closer. The air feels electric between them. He brings his other hand up to cup her cheek and keeps his eyes on her lips before quickly glancing up at her eyes. And then he's moving his mouth closer to hers. Lisa's heart pounds and the back of her neck is warm but she doesn't want to end this spell. Her eyes softly close as she feels Twelve's breath on her lips.

His lips meet hers in the softest of touches. Lisa moves closer to deepen it when—

"What happened to dinner?"

Both Lisa's and Twelve's eyes spring open. Lisa lets out a squeak of surprise as she jumps a good distance away from Twelve. She turns to find Nine standing there, arms crossed but his expression not giving away anything. Neither disapproval nor anger. It was almost like he hadn't seen anything. Except that was impossible.

Lisa flushes bright red and stares at her toes. "Oh Nine. We didn't see you there. We were just…" as Twelve's voice trails off, Lisa catches his eye and they both blush profusely.

Once Nine figures out that Twelve will never be able to finish that sentence, he just sighs. "Well, at least go pick us up something to eat."

"Righty-o."

Lisa doesn't look up as Twelve moves to grab his helmet and wallet. It's only once she hears the door shut close behind him does Lisa release the breath she didn't realize she was holding. She bites her lip. Lisa knows exactly what she's feeling right now. Disappointment. She's so incredibly disappointed that it surprises her. But she's almost certain that the spell they were under could be recast. And that thought makes Lisa softly smile to herself.

She was so caught up in her thoughts however, that she didn't realize that Nine was still standing there. She also didn't see the strange look he gave her when he saw her weird smile. But that was probably for the best.


End file.
